Go Get Em, Sarfaraz Khan: Chris Gayle congratulates former RCB teammate for maiden India Test call-up

Legendary West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle congratulated Sarfaraz Khan for the young batter's maiden India call-up with a social media post on Tuesday, January 30. Gayle, in his inimitable style, wished the young batter the best for his Test career with a story on his Instagram page.

Sarfaraz Khan received his much-awaited India call-up for the second Test match against England in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Sarfaraz was overlooked several times in the past, but the Mumbai batter made sure he kept knocking on the selectors' doors with his consistent run in domestic cricket and in the opportunities he got to represent India A.

"Go, get em Sarfaraz Khan," Chris Gayle said in his Instagram story, sharing a photo of himself and the young batter. Chris Gayle and Sarfaraz Khan were first teammates at Royal Challengers Bangalore and then at Punjab Kings toward the latter stage of the West Indies great's IPL career.

Chris Gayle has often spoken about his fondness for Sarfaraz Khan, rating him as one of the highly-rated young batters in the country.

As early as 2016, Gayle had predicted Sarfaraz would become one of the future superstars in Indian cricket.

"We get along well. Sarfaraz keeps texting me...He's too young and he's like a son to me. He's definitely one for the future and one must keep an eye on him," Gayle had said.

Sarfaraz was added to India's squad for the 2nd Test after Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul were ruled out due to injury concerns. India added the Mumbai batter, Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Sourabh Kumar and Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar were added to the squad.

Sarfaraz is likely to compete for a spot in the XI in the 2nd Test with Rajat Patidar, the Madhya Pradesh batter who has been travelling with the squad from the first Test.

Sarfaraz was chuffed after learning about his Test selection on Monday. The 25-year-old batter shared a photo with his father and a celebratory song as part of his Insta story. He also trained at a local ground in Mumbai early on Tuesday morning before linking-up with the squad in Visakhapatnam.